TENNIS: Stewart works hard to finish draw for invitational

Published 2:00 pm, Thursday, April 18, 2013

Racquet Club head professional Scott Stewart is possibly the hardest working man in tennis in Midland these days.

Each year, Stewart is faced with a little bit of a waiting game when it comes to bringing in players for the annual Racquet Club Invitational men's pro tournament.

He typically is able to get much of the field in place a week prior to the event, but inevitably there always a player or two he's waiting to hear from on whether they can come.

"It's always the same but it's just tough because there's so many events going on all over," Stewart said. "There's one in Sarasota, Fla., and Mexico City, and once I set the dates for my tournament I can't work around one or two guys. But it's been great because we get to see a great level or tennis."

It's a similar situation this season because as of Thursday, Stewart was waiting on some results but he did have 11 of the 12-player draw, including last year's champion and a familiar name to tennis.

Stewart said that Dimitar Kutrovsky, who won last year's event in two sets against veteran pro Robert Kendrick, will return, and also playing is Prakash Amritroaj.

Amritroaj is the son of V.J. Amritroaj, who played in some of the world's biggest tournaments and against some of the world's top players in the late 1970s and 80s. The younger Amritroaj is one of the best players in India and has been playing on the country's Davis Cup squad.

"I got (Prakash) lined up (Tuesday), and he's going to come play here and then go to South Africa on Tuesday," Stewart said.

The annual tournament will begin today with first round matches as the top four seeds will receive byes in the 12-player draw. Quarterfinals are set for Saturday morning, and semifinals set for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Sunday's final will take place at 1 p.m. on the stadium court at the Racquet Club.